A new Fractional CFO recently approached me.

Let's call her Amanda.

Amanda had a great question:

"I just launched my Fractional CFO firm earlier this year. I need to get more leads ASAP, so I'm thinking about going all in on LinkedIn posts and creating either a YouTube channel or a newsletter. What do you think?"

If you know anything about me, you know I go all in on content creation.

Over the past 2.5 years, I've dropped literally hundreds of videos on YouTube (235, to be exact), written nearly 100 newsletters (this one is number 99), and posted 1,214 times on LinkedIn.

So you might be surprised to hear that my response to this up-and-coming Fractional CFO was "absolutely not."

Why would I steer someone away from making content if I see the value?

Is it because I'm sipping on Haterade and trying to keep the man down?

Nope. That's not how I do!

In today's edition, I'm going to share the 5 reasons why I think most Fractional CFOs should avoid content creation as a business development strategy, and, as a bonus, I'm also going to give you 5 things that I think you should do instead.

Let's dive in.

No niche. No Message. No Clients.

Content creation is a 3-D chess game of earning and keeping attention.

For a content strategy to work, you must have a clear, focused message that resonates with your target audience.

What messages resonate and keep attention?

Solutions to their problems.

So, if you're posting content to anyone who will listen, your message isn't going to resonate, and no one is going to care.

This aspiring fractional CFO had (thus far) not niched down, so she didn't have a message that would resonate with anyone. Therefore, building an audience (and ultimately getting clients from it) would be a dead-end. 

No niche. No message. No clients.

An Audience of... No One?

Content creation can be really lucrative - but only if there's someone around to consume it. 

The truth is, this Fractional CFO really didn't have much of an audience. She had around 2200 followers on LinkedIn, but the vast majority of her connections fell into two buckets:

• Friends from college or corporate America
• Other Fractional CFOs and CPAs 

Neither of these groups will likely see her content and push her new revenue.

Additionally, this person had zero email list and had zero experience creating video content.

There was literally no one to send a newsletter to nor anyone to view her YouTube videos.

Now, I know that some of you are reading this and saying, "Sure. That's what my audience looks like NOW, but if I don't start posting content, how will I ever GET an audience?"

Great point. This leads us to...

The Long Game

If there's one thing I've learned from creating all of my content, it is that the payoff is NOT fast.

I posted on LinkedIn - literally daily - for almost 9 months before I got ANY traction from it. 

And by traction, I don't mean revenue. I mean, it took 9 months before I started getting a meaningful following and engagement. The revenue took even longer.

So you might be thinking that I'm just a slow learner because I'm from Lower Alabama.

While that may be true, this is the same growth trajectory that really successful LinkedIn posters like Justin Welsh and Nicholas Buchar also experienced.

What about YouTube? It took 1.5+ years before it started paying off.

The reality is that it just takes a lot of time to build a meaningful audience.

And I know many of you don't have 6, 12, or 18 months to start getting clients.

So you might be asking yourself, why not start on LinkedIn and YouTube or a newsletter now while pursuing other business development techniques? 

The Time Investment Isn't What You Think

I am guilty of grossly underestimating how long it takes to produce even mediocre content, regardless of platform or medium. 

And content quality, to a certain degree, really matters. 

You've certainly seen bad content before - but you might struggle to think about specific examples.

Why? Because when you see it, you just keep scrolling, skip past it, or unsubscribe from it. 

You certainly aren't becoming a customer.

So good content comes at a price, and that price is time.

You have to invest meaningful amounts of time on:
✅ Learning how to make good content
✅ Ideating your content
✅ Producing your content
✅ Scheduling and posting your content
✅ Engaging back with those who engage with your content
✅ Reviewing content analytics to determine what's working

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Every. Single. Day.

Because if you aren't consistent with the content, it will NEVER pay off.

Can you skip some of those steps?
Sure, you can do whatever you want because you're (likely) an adult.  

But my experience shows that any hope of an ROI will go down significantly if you're not doing it correctly. 

So you have to ask yourself:
Do you even have time to do all that every day?
Are you willing to do all that even if you did have the time?

Can you hire someone to do a lot of this for you?

Maybe.

There are great admins and VAs who can definitely handle posting and scheduling.

You can also throw good money at AI platforms that create horrible content.

You can hire an agency to write your content. I have yet to find an agency that is even somewhat OK at passable content creation (and I have tried many).

In fact, I work with hundreds and hundreds of firm owners every day - and I have yet to meet another Fractional CFO who has hired an agency and said, "Yeah, that agency crushed it. My content is on fire, my target audience loves it, and I'm getting leads from it all day long."

I know dozens who have had the exact opposite experience.

Misdirected Focus

Finally, I just find that content creation, especially for Fractional CFOs that are sub-7-figures, is just a misdirected focus. 

I do think that there's a place for content creation, but it's not the low-hanging fruit you might hope it is, and I don't believe that investing time in that strategy will pay off quickly enough for Amanda. 

Due to the nature of our work, the Fractional CFO game is built on relationships and trust, not clever social media posts or YouTube videos.

Can those platforms add trust over time?

Absolutely!

But my guess is that you don't have that kind of time. 
You likely need clients much faster than that.

So, what SHOULD you focus on if you need clients faster?

• Conferences
• Local networking events
• Get on podcasts or webinars
• Work your existing LinkedIn network via DM
• Referrals from existing clients (have you even asked?)

Are these things sexy?
Nope!

Do they require you to interact with other human beings?
Yup!  

But I've seen these basic, simple strategies create literal millions of dollars of income for dozens and dozens of firms that do them consistently - some have even hit 7 figures in <2 years doing the basics.

What's your next move?